After all -- this simply proves that the American people are ignorant of the financial realities of their preferred option in Iraq, and probably don't really know what they want or what is needed in Iraq in the first place.

There is broader public agreement on how Congress should approach war funding. About a quarter of adults want Congress to fund fully the administration's $190 billion request; seven in 10 want the proposed allocation reduced, with 46 percent wanting it cut sharply or entirely. About seven in 10 independents want Congress to cut back funds allocated for the war effort, as do nearly nine in 10 Democrats; 46 percent of Republicans agree.

OK, so that means that the people want a sharp reduction in the number of troops in Iraq and a quick retreat from the field without victory -- right?

At the same time, there is no consensus about the pace of any U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq. In July, nearly six in 10 said they wanted to decrease the number of troops there, but now a slim majority, 52 percent, think Bush's plan for removing some troops by next summer is either the right pace for withdrawal (38 percent) or too hasty (12 percent would like a slower reduction, and 2 percent want no force reduction). Fewer people (43 percent) want a quicker exit.

So what the American people think the President's plans are about right or even too quick to bring troops home.

But then there is this.

Overall, 55 percent of Americans want congressional Democrats to do more to challenge the president's Iraq policies, while a third think the Democrats have gone too far.

Which I suppose could be interpreted as support for the pell-mell retreat that the Left has been advocating for the last year, with a great skeedaddle from Iraq with America's tail tucked between her legs.

So how do we reconcile these three results? My answer -- we have to recognize that the American people don't understand what it costs to keep the war going in a manner that accords with their wish, which seem to be victory. After all, it is pretty clear that the President's plan is about right int he eyes of most Americans -- but that they don't like the price tag for it. Unfortunately, this indicates that the American people really don't know what it costs to keep an operation like this one going -- and trying to do it on the cheap would be disastrous. That first set of numbers is therefore irrelevant if one is to accept the second set of numbers as valid.

And what of the third set of numbers? I'd argue that it shows that the American people want the Congress to keep up the pressure on the Administration to remember that this cannot be an open-ended commitment, and that we ultimately do need to draw down our forces in Iraq.

But then again, that is already the position of the Bush administration -- though you generally would not know it from the media coverage that has been given.